The Story Behind Come My Way
by vietnow
Summary: I've always thought that the current ending theme to Inuyasha told a good story, so I wrote a story that is based off of Come by Namie Amura. The song always made me think of two strangers, a girl a boy, a bizarre attraction, lots of rain, running away, t
1. Now with the light of dusk

Yeah, this story doesn't contain any Inuyasha characters. But it is based heavily off of the ending Inuyasha theme that's been playing on t.v., "Come" by Namie Amura. I have that song on an old mix cd and I've always thought it told a story. And this, what I've written, is my own silly little version. Should I post the lyrics? Oh, and the italics in quotes are Lucy's thoughts. Yup, so enjoyyyy.

It was nearly the end of the day and Lucy had contented herself with gazing longingly out of the third-story classroom's window. A murky sky was littered with dark clouds floating surreptitiously behind tall grey buildings. The lights of the city glowed vivid against dull steel. Lucy tapped her foot with irritation and attempted to concentrate, but it was of little use. Thoughts of the outside appealed much more than trying to learn how to multiply and divide polynomials, whatever those were. She nonchalantly scanned the classroom and noted similar signs of impatience. She let out a small sigh and looked up once more, unintentionally locking eyes with Neil, a boy she often caught staring at her. She turned away quickly and felt her face smolder.

Neil had an intelligent bearing, a nice face, and smooth, perfect lips. Rather than feel flattered by his preoccupation with her, Lucy was troubled and confused. She would've normally found herself drawn and attracted to this boy, but his peculiar nature intimidated her, and well, everyone else. He didn't seem to keep any friends or girls near, and even teachers avoided speaking to him. Looking into his narrowed eyes made a person feel stupid and insignificant, which is why Lucy despised the way he was always looking at her.

She doodled absentmindedly and considered why he would have any reason to dislike her. She did recall a certain incident where she'd been hurrying down the hall and realized a friend behind her was trying to get her attention. She had turned around, said hello, and bumped straight into someone. Lucy twisted to see whom she'd run into and was staring directly into Neil's irate, narrowed eyes. She had mumbled an apology and sped off, deeply perturbed. She remembered wondering why he hadn't seen her coming.

"_Could that be why he seems to dislike me so much? No… the angry ogling he appears to favor started before that. Hmm…" _She thought of the occasions where he would hold the door open for her or perform some other trivial courtesy. He would, however, continue to glare at her during these incidents. It was almost as if he arranged the favors so he had more opportunities to leer at her.

"_I think I can remember thanking him most of the time…so, what then? What have I ever done…?"_ She denied obsessing over this predicament to herself and resolved to make a conscious effort to forget about it. The bell then decides to ring shrilly enough to interrupt her thoughts. There is a mad scramble to the door, but Lucy decides to take her time, purely gleeful at the prospect of a rainy Friday afternoon.

She pulls her hood over her short brown hair and heads for the exit of the school. Under the awning outside, Lucy watches the steady fall of rain eagerly.

"_This rain…it makes me so happy. I just want to…frolic! And look like an idiot!" _First hastily confirming that there is no one in sight to witness the idiocy, she then dashes across the wet pavement to the tree-covered park past the street. She skipped through puddles and soaked in the downpour, all while humming '_Dancing with Myself'_, which is kind of a lame song. Laughing aloud, Lucy figured she probably looked like she was mentally challenged or 5-years-old, but,

"_Eh, whatever. I do what I want."_ Grinning, she turned back to glance at the school. Perched under the awning was _Neil_, and he was already staring right at her. Eyes wide and burning with embarrassment, she slumped, with her back facing him, onto a wet stone bench nearby.

"_Nuh-uh. Just when I decide to be an idiot and dispose myself to judgment, _he's _right there…It's weird. I was just thinking about him…"_ She sat, planning her next course of action and hoping that Neil would go away. Or hoping that he hadn't even seen her.

"_Doubtful." _ She tried to slowly and inconspicuously peek at the intruder, _Neil_, but she caught that he was still looking at her. She would have quickly turned away if it weren't for the expression on his face. He was…smiling. He looked amused, and he seemed like he didn't mind her outburst of childish behavior, but rather, understood it. She was mildly stunned. It was a development. This boy, this person, had never so much as smiled at her or for her or because or her, and usually made it a point to glare. Her shock was only momentary, though. Lucy looked away and figured she should probably ignore whatever Neil's problem was.

"_Yeah, that kid is just a tad bit strange. And he may or may not have some complaint about me." _Lucy then pulled earphones from her bag and placed them in her ears. She selected a rain appropriate song and stood up. The city lights flickered off the wet, glossy steel and glowed even brighter then before. She started walking in the direction of her house, and then broke into a ceaseless run.

So, yeah! It's sort of Inuyasha-y… I mean, if you wanted a story to go along with the ending theme. I'll put up the other chapters I have if _anyone_ wants me to. Reviews would be highly appreciated. I'll worship yooou!


	2. Come my Way?

It was the next day. Lucy was travelling the hallway in between third and fourth period with her two dearest friends, Benji and Claire.

"Yeah, so, what'd you do yesterday after school, Lucy? I was gonna call you an' Claire, but the phone lines were out 'cause of the rain," said Benji, looking at her.

"Oh, nothing. I actually walked home and then fell asleep on my floor," replied Lucy, glancing back at Benji. He had been her friend since the sixth grade, five years now, ever since a horrible local summer camp they had survived together. He was not much taller than Lucy, had black shaggy hair and kind of a baby face. He was very pale with watery blue eyes and, as Claire and Lucy often pointed out, kind of a wimp. But he was cute, no doubt. Lucy had begun to wonder if he liked her as more than a friend, but didn't want to jeopardize their friendship. She hoped he would keep it that way.

"Why didn't you ask me what _I_ was doing yesterday?" inquired Claire, with mock annoyance.

"I don't have to ask to know what _you_ were doing," he said, eyeing her hair, which was dyed bright highlighter green. "You look like dirt and some grass." He chuckled affectionately, to show he meant no harm. It was somewhat true, though; her short, choppy hair did look like grass next to her russet face. She was very lovely nonetheless, _much prettier than I_, Lucy thought, time and again, enviously.

"Oh, no, I really like your hair," Lucy reassured. They continued to discuss Claire's color choice, turned a corner, walked down a staircase, and passed by Neil, who looked up and leered pointedly at Lucy. She paled, ill at ease.

"Isn't that the kid whose always looking at you like you just personally offended him?" Claire asked, but not without snorting at her choice of words. Lucy nodded, her forehead crinkled in slight disgust.

"What's his deal anyway?" asked Benji, turning to look at Neil's retreating back.

"Not a clue," Lucy said quietly. "Well, actually he smiled at me yesterday. And I know it was me, there was no one else around."

"What? When," exclaimed Benji.

"Well, yesterday after fourth period, I didn't try to find you guys, and I went outside and it was raining and I didn't see anyone else around and you know how I g-,"

"Oh, yes, we know how you get when it's raining," chirped Claire, smirking.

"Well, yeah, Neil saw me. But he smiled. And it's like he wasn't laughing at me, but with me. So I have no idea what his fix with me is. …Oh! I'd actually better go back that way. I'm gonna be late for Algebra II."

Benji said, "Bleh, Algebra Dos," and Claire called out, "Bye!" as Lucy hurried off to the third-floor classroom. She shuffled into class, eyes down, the last one to arrive, and took her usual seat by the window.

"_Today it's going to be like yesterday, and the day before and before, boring boring boring…"_ she thought, drearily. She focused on her notebook, and not the math work, where she had been drawing a duck and then a gingerbread man. The heavy, balding male teacher reprimanded the students for being inattentive and then started to drone on about multiplying and dividing mixed numbers, and doing it without a calculator (Oh no!). Blah blah blahdy blah. Lucy could feel herself dozing off, which was okay, because she was sitting behind a really huge kid and the teacher would never catch her. She slumped on the desk with her arms around her face and gradually forfeited consciousness. For awhile Lucy dreamt fleeting dreams of running through the friendly part of downtown, towards the warm red and yellow lights, out of the grey and the rain, and past the sweet smell coming from the Asian bakery, where they knew her by name. And then, in her dream, there was Neil. He was looking at her like he had to say something, but couldn't. And he was holding a folded piece of paper, which he then threw to her.

That was when Lucy awoke. She looked up and squinted at the clock; she'd been asleep for about an hour and class was nearly over. She stretched her shoulders a little, and turned her attention once more to her notebook. On top of the duck was a folded piece of paper, like in her dream.

"_Ooh, déjà vu,"_ she thought, while speculating the origins of the paper on her desk. She peered around her for any hint; the girl next to her, Heidi, was trying to get her attention.

"It's from Neil. He had me pass it over, but you were, um, kind of out," she said, self- importantly. Heidi was a disreputable gossip and seemed curious as to what the note said. Lucy stared at her bleary-eyed, disbelieving.

"It's from Neil? You're sure?" Lucy said skeptically. It's not like there was no chance this was trick.

"Mmm hmm," Heidi murmured. Lucy glanced at Neil, who turned to look at her face and then at the note her hands. His expression was appraising; he seemed to say _go ahead, read it, I wanna see your reaction._ She twisted her head back to the note and brashly pulled it open. Written in a long, thoughtful, scrawl was-

_Lucy, would you please meet me in front of the school after this class is over?_

That was it, simply. She was puzzled.

"_Well, this is kind of good actually. Not that it's ever mattered much, but maybe now he can finally tell me why he frowns at me all the time. It'll make Benji feel better. He's so defensive…Wait, maybe Neil wants to beat me up or something,"_ she thought, while laughing a little on the inside.

The time until the end-of-the-day bell rang couldn't come soon enough. It was like there was invisible electricity running between her and Neil. She was very aware of his presence only a few seats away and did not risk looking at him. When the bell actually rang, Lucy was startled. She quickly got her things together, bolted towards the door, and was one of the first to leave. The mobs in the hallway prevented her from sprinting outside, which is what she would've liked to do. Neil was going to have to find her; she wasn't about to search for him. She clambered to the bench outside where she'd sat yesterday, realizing bitterly, _how appropriate. _It was raining again, but Lucy didn't really mind that she was getting more drenched by the minute.

Lucy had her back to him and her eyes on the water collecting in the cracks of the pavement when Neil dropped himself next to her on the bench. She could hear that there were still a lot of people around, but they were behind them. Quickly and with what she hoped was relative nonchalance, she observed his appearance without looking him in the face. His sweater was soaked through and his coppery hair hung wet and limp in his eyes. When she finally summoned the nerve to look him in the eyes, _those eyes_, he was…smiling, again. Or something close to it. The corners of his mouth were turned up and he looked amused, like he was laughing internally at his own joke. Lucy was taken aback and fully neglected her intentions to demand his purpose.

"_Oh, what now? He's smiling, a little, again, at me? So he's not about to tell me off…"_

"Hello," he said, entirely pleasant. Triggered by his unexpected greeting and nearly cutting him off, she blurted,

"I'm sorry for running into you the other day!" He looked at her questioningly, but then the small smile was replaced and he said,

"Ah, that. Think not of it." She waited for him to say something more or even explain why he asked her to be here, but he continued to sit, grinning, and seeming satisfied with the silence. Lucy squirmed uncomfortably, now very aware of the weight of her sopping dress and of the water in her shoes.

"_I'll just go ahead and ask him if he wholly abhors me for some reason," _she thought, rather dramatically_. "Or maybe it's just been nothing all along. Maybe, I'm imagining these things… because…uh…" _Then, tentatively, flatly,

"Um, _Neil_, what do want? Do you, err, just dislike me or something 'cause…" But the end of her inquiry was cut off as he had suddenly placed his slender fingers on her mouth, still parted in mid-speech.

"_Wha…touching my face. Ohmigod. This is ridiculous. What's he want?… And he's still touching the face…"_

Softly brushing his fingertips over her markedly full lips he said, simply (**A/N**: man, I hate using the word 'lips'. I hate that word…),

"I crave it, to know you. Yeah…I want very much to know _who _you are." That was creepy. But oddly flattering. And utterly implausible. She paused for a moment before shrugging his fingers from her face and insisting, eyes wide,

"Me? Who I am…? But, but, I've always gotten this impression that you, well, _hated_ me. And I'll be frank, I have no inkling as to why… I've never done anything." Neil was no longer smiling, but looked instead looked very serious.

"Well, I don't hate you. No, not in the slightest." She stared at him, a little astonished at his… affirmation This response certainly didn't make clear what exactly he wanted from or thought of her, and Neil's expression gave nothing away, though creases had formed on his forehead, like he was concentrating. It seemed as though he was trying very hard to discern what _she_ was thinking.

After a moment of this, he stood up, gazed at Lucy an instant longer, and turned away to leave. He then sloshed off, without so much as a glance back at her.

"Goodbye. I need to think; before I say something I'll regret." he called, dismissively. Lucy sat watching him walk away, too puzzled to try and stop him. She was frustrated, confused, relieved, and very curious all at the same time. She slouched on the bench for only an instant longer and, without bothering to take out her music, began to run interminably to her house. In her mind she was shrieking,

"_Oh, so you don't hate me? Well, okay, then why do you always look at me like I'm disgusting or crazy or I've done something to you?" _ She slapped her feet irritably against the sopping pavement as she ran, kept on running, and didn't stop until she reached the darkened little apartment a few blocks away.


End file.
